Catholics to address immigration nationwide

Catholics attending Mass in cities across the country this weekend will be asked to voice their support for immigration reform.

But although Arizona is considered ground zero in the national immigration debate, there are no plans by Catholic leaders in Phoenix or Tucson to participate in the special appeals being made during Masses in other cities.

That has disappointed some local Latino leaders.

The appeals are part of an all-out, last-ditch effort by the Catholic Church to rally millions of Catholics to persuade members of the U.S. House to pass a comprehensive bill this fall that includes a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.

Bishops in Arizona, however, say they opted not to take part in this weekend’s events because they already have been working to build support in Arizona by meeting with lawmakers, holding a prayer service and working with leaders from other religious groups. The bishops also say they are planning more pro-immigration-reform activities in the fall.

“It’s not that we have forgotten or are not interested,” said Eduardo Nevares, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

Nevares this week attended a meeting in Albuquerque with other Catholic bishops from the Southwest to discuss several issues, including immigration reform and the conflict in Syria.

Instead of a message about immigration reform, Catholics in Arizona will hear about Syria, urging them to contact members of the state’s congressional delegation to oppose President Barack Obama’s plan to use military force against Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons, Nevares said.

Gerald Kicanas, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, said that while the Syrian conflict has dominated the attention of Catholic leaders this week, “we are certainly continuing our efforts to encourage members to support immigration reform.”

Advocates both in favor and against comprehensive immigration reform have been out in force over the past month, when members of Congress were back home in their districts during the August recess.

Members of Riders U.S.A., a grass-roots anti-reform group, plan to rally at the state Capitol today against comprehensive immigration reform, saying legalizing undocumented immigrants would hurt American workers.

The Catholic Church has pushed for a comprehensive immigration-reform bill for years that includes a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.

“We are an immigrant church,” Jose Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles, said in a written statement. He also chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.

The Catholic Church has grown because of immigration, he said.

“(The church also) has helped integrate immigrants into American culture for generations,” Gomez wrote. “We are called by our faith to reach our hands out to the immigrant and assist them where possible, and pushing to change the law is one example of that.”

An opportune time

There is a sense of urgency to mobilize Catholics now because Congress returns Monday to Washington following a five-week break and a bipartisan immigration-reform bill passed by the Senate in June remains stalled in the House, said Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“The goal is to raise consciousness and education among Catholics and to get them to pick up the phone to do something to show our representatives that there is broad support in the Catholic community,” Appleby said.

He said the church is targeting Catholic members of the GOP-controlled House,where 136 representatives are Catholic, according to Pew Research. The church is focusing on 55 Catholic members who church leaders believe can be persuaded to vote in favor of a comprehensive bill that includes a pathway to citizenship, Appleby said.

The Senate bill includes that pathway, contingent on meeting certain border-security goals.

The list of targets includes both Republicans and Democrats, among them U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat from Arizona, he said.

“(The bill) takes a comprehensive approach and includes stronger border security and a tough but fair pathway to citizenship so that families can stay together,” Johnson said. “She hopes the House is able to pass something similar.”

Catholic churches in at least 18 cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, will appeal to members during Masses and other events this weekend to support immigration reform and contact lawmakers in the House, Appleby said.

In addition, some Catholic churches will hold pilgrimages and forums or will make bulletin and pulpit announcements explaining the need for immigration reform, he said.

“The idea was to get a crescendo of events up through September up to a possible October debate in the House, if it even happens,” Appleby said.

Previous efforts in Arizona

In Phoenix, Nevares celebrated a prayer Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church downtown on Aug. 24 to rally support for “humane and comprehensive immigration reform.”

The Mass was followed by a two-hour community forum co-organized with Promise Arizona, a local immigration-reform advocacy group. More than 500 people attended, Nevares said.

Neveres and other Catholic leaders met in August with Arizona’s two senators, Republicans John McCain and Jeff Flake, who helped craft the bipartisan Senate immigration and border-security bill.

The local church officials also plan to participate in a national push to have members contact House lawmakers later in the fall and urge them to support a comprehensive bill, Nevares said.

Still, the decision by the Phoenix Diocese not to participate in this weekend’s national events has disappointed some Latino leaders because Arizona has been the focal point of the national debate over immigration reform.

Phoenix bishop criticized

“The Catholic Church is the single largest institute in the state. Of course it would have an impact,” said Alfredo Gutierrez, a former state lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate who also is Catholic.

Gutierrez said the Phoenix Diocese’s decision not to participate in this weekend’s pro-immigration reform events is evidence of how Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted has not shown enough public leadership in support of immigration reform.

“He is absolutely unengaged,” Gutierrez said. “By virtue of his position, he should be one of the most prominent voices on this issue, and he hasn’t been.”

Even if Olmsted has not been as vocal as other Catholic bishops around the country, he and the Phoenix Diocese have been heavily involved in supporting immigration reform, said Tommy Espinoza, president and CEO of the Phoenix-based Raza Development Fund and national chairman of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders.

He said Olmsted prefers to work behind the scenes, although Espinoza agreed that participating in this weekend’s immigration reform events “would have been a positive gesture.”

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